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Roof Sealing

biodoctor900

biodoctor900

Member
Hi Guys, I need some help. I need to work out the best way in which to seal the roof on my TARDIS. My TARDIS is now on its 2nd Roof (1st one rotted, 2nd the panels rotted and then I replaced them) I've used Plywood on both roofs, The first roof I cant quite remember what the sealant was, but it constantly leaked. The second I was advised to use a silicone sealant, it worked ok, said it was paintable, but after a while it flaked off and then the sealant started to be really rubbish. When I took the roof apart the paint was flaking and the panels, well I could put my foot through it. I bought some more plywood and used a wood filler instead, but again the paint doesn't seem to stick, it just washes off, even though it says it is paintable and the wood has started to warp a little and lift from the main frame.

I'm going to be rebuilding again soon, and I've got a list as long as my arm of things to do, my mate keeps telling me to build from scratch, but its too sentimental to do that. So if anyone could advise on a decent, but not too expensive solution I would be really greatful

Cheers,
BioDoctor900
 
Hey, BioDoctor,

I noticed there were no replies to your message here (maybe someone PM-d you?)
Just wondering if you got your roof sealing issues sorted?
It's one of the areas I'm a bit concerned about, as I'm nearly getting to the roof part of my build & it is going to be an outside box.
Ply is supposed to be a good material for outside use, but I quite often see people who used it for their roofs & it starts to split & rot...
Perhaps rubber paint is the answer...?

Russell
 
Sorry, I was on my phone when I read this and forgot to get back to it.  My solution was decidedly low-tech but it worked for me--tar paper. 

I'd just reroofed my garage and I had a little tar paper and roofing tar left over.  The Internet seemed to indicate that you could paint tar paper so I gave it a shot.  I cut a series of triangles big enough to cover two roof panels.  I planned to do four but IIRC I ran out of scrap paper and had to settle for 3.  I painted two roof panels with roofing tar and then laid a piece of tar paper on it, stapling down the edges.  Then I rotated 90 degrees and tarred  half of my attached paper and another roof panel and laid on the next piece of tar paper (although I opted to not staple through the edge that overlapped.  Then rotated another 90 and repeated (this time only stapling the bottom edge).  With four pieces of tar paper you'd have two layers of tar and two layers of tar paper with an entire panel overlapped on all four roof panels.  Then I hit the seams with an acrylic latex paintable caulk and, when that dried, a ton of paint.  Tar paper is even thirstier than plywood. And I got rain before my first coat of paint had fully dried to boot. 

This isn't going to give you a pristine looking roof, but with care it looks OK.  And given that the TARDIS is supposed to be battered and the roof is fairly hard to see unless you're on a ladder, it has worked well for me. 

A lot of people have used some kind of rubber paint--either pickup truck bedliner or a rubber paint specifically designed for waterproofing roofs.  They seem to have good effect with it but I can't speak to that. 

All that said, regular inspection and maintenance is still a necessity for an outdoor box--especially in a wet climate.  I'd neglected some maintenance for a couple years and found some wear and dangerously thin paint in a number of spots, but a couple fresh coats of paint and she's holding up fine. 
 
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